|E 458 
'.1 
.H37 
Copy 1 



n f^ 



NORTH AND SOUTH: 



OR 



FOUK QUESTIONS CONSIDERED: 



WHAT HAVE WE DONE ? WHAT HAVE WE TO DO \ 
WHAT HAVE WE TO HOPE ! WHAT HAVE WE TO FEAR? 



^ ser]mo:n^ 



PREACHED IN THE FIRST CHURCH IN HARTFORD, 



DAY OF THE NATIONAL FAST, Sept. 2Gth, 1861. 



By J. HAA^ES, D. D. 



HARTFORD: 

PRESS OF CASE, LOCKWOOD AND COMPANY, 

1861. 



NORTH AND SOUTH: 



OB 



^OVR QUESTIONS CONSIDERED; 

W-HArHAYEWETOPEAR? 






ON THE 



I>AY OF THE NATIONAL FAST . o 

^ J^AfeT, Sept. 26th, 1861. 



^y J. HA WES, D. 



D. 



HARTFORD- 
rKESS OF CASE, LOCKTOOD AND COMPANV. 

1861. 



• I 






Hartford, Sept. 28, 1861. 
Rev. J. Ha WES, D. D. 

Dear Sir : — We, the subscribers, having heard the discourse delivered by 
you on the day of the National Fast, are desirous to see it in print, for our 
own benefit as well as for the interest of those who were not present at its 
delivery. We therefore request a copy for publication. 
Yours Very Respectfully, 



W. W. ELLSWORTH, 
J.-OIES B. HOSMER, 
STEPHEN SPENCER, 
WM. W. TURNER, 
OLCOTT ALLEN, 
JOHN BEACH, 
S. S. CHAMBERLIN, 
TH. S. WILLIAMS, 
SAIklUEL S. WARD, 
LEONARD CHURCH, 
THOMAS SMITH, 



H. A. PERKINS, 

JAS. G. BATTERSON, 

ALBERT DAY, 

A. M. SMITH, 

WARREN G. JONES, 

Rev. S. B. PAGE, Cleveland, O. 

CALVIN DAY, 

H. BLANCHARD, 

S. M. CAPRON, 

D. F. ROBINSON. 



Hartford, Sept. 30, 1861. 
Hon. W. W. Ellsworth and others : 

Gentlemen : — The discourse you request for publication, I readily com- 
mit to your disposal, in the hope that it may do good. 

Yours Respectfully, ^ 

J. HA WES. 



SEEMON. 



I NEVER expected to see a time like this, when every day, 
and at all times of the day, we see soldiers in arms and hear 
the sound of martial exercises along our streets, and about 
the avenues of our city. I never expected to be called to 
preach on an occasion like the present, — a day of humiliation, 
fasting and prayer, appointed by the President of the United 
States, in conformity with the recommendation of both houses 
of Congress, and seconded by the chief magistrate of our own 
State, — on account of war, civil war having broke out in 
our country, and which is spreading devastation and ruin over 
the land. I never rose to address an audience, when I was 
so much at a loss what to say, in order to meet the demands 
of the occasion, and at the same time not to offend against 
the dignity and sacredness of my office as a minister of Christ. 
As I look round on this assembly, and think of the circum- 
stances in which we meet here to day, a solemn awe comes 
over my mind, and I tremble lest I shall prove unfaithful to 
my trust, or fail to meet the reasonable expectations of. those 
whom I address. May God guide the service and make it 
profitable to us all. 

I find a text suited to my purpose, in 1 Sam., 17 ; 29 : — > 
And David said, — What have I now done? Is there not 

A CAUSE ? 

The case was this :- — 

The Philistines, whose country bordered on the south and 
west of Judea, made war upon the people of Israel, and 



gathered their armies at Schochoh, which belonged to Judah. 
Saul and the men of Israel gathered together their hosts and 
pitched by the valley of Elah, over against the Philistines. 
On this occasion an aged Israelite who had eight sons, sent 
three of them into the army, while David the youngest was 
retained at home to keep his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 
The father, naturally anxious for the three sons in the army, 
sent David with provisions for them, and bade him inquire how 
his brethren fared, and to take their pledge. Leaving the sheep 
with a keeper, David rose up early in the morning, and has- 
tened to execute his mission of sympathy and kindness. He 
reached the camp as the host was going forth to fight, and 
ran into the army and saluted his brethren. Here it was that 
he contemplated the approaching storm, which threatened to 
overwhelm his country. Here he saw the battle in array with 
fierce invaders, led on by a champion, whose stature and 
prowess were only equalled by his pride and blasphemy. He 
heard no terms proposed but absolute submission and slavery. 
The whole bearing and look, and defiant menace of the proud 
man, Goliath of Gath, were appalling, and Israel fled at his 
presence as he marched forth at the head of armed hosts, bid- 
ding defiance to the hosts of Israel. A holy indignation rose 
in the bosom of the young shepherd, and he panted to enter 
into the conflict that he might take away the reproach from his 
countrymen, and show that there was courage which was 
ready to meet the challenge of the champion, with all his 
pride and impious boasting. But what could he do ? He 
was there as a private man, and not as a soldier. Yet he 
could not restrain the flame that glowed within and impelled 
him to the battle. So he modestly inquired, what shall be done 
to the man that killeth this Philistine and taketli away the re- 
proach from Israel ? For who is this uncircumcised Philis- 
tine, that he should defy the armies of the living God. Eliab 



his eldest brother, heard when he spake thus, and his anger was 
enkindled against him ; and he said, — why earnest thou down 
hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the 
wilderness ? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thy 
heart, for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. 
And David said, — what have I now done ? Is there not a cause ? 
As if he had said — have I done anything wrong, or anything 
which I had not a just cause for doing ? Came I not down at 
the command of my father ? Is it not right that I should feel 
indignation at the blasphemies and boastings which I have 
heard, and should have an earnest desire to bear a part in with- 
standing the enemies of my country and of my God, in their im- 
piety and rage ? The reply of David was just. It proceeded 
from a trvie love of his country, and showed a willingness to 
do what he could to repel the foe then encamped on its bor- 
ders and warring for its overthrow. 

The text suggests my subject and in pursuing it, I shall at- 
tempt an answer to four questions. — 

What have we done ; what have we to do ; what have we 
to hope ; and what have we to fear. Let us consider, 

1. What have we done ? I mean we at the North ; we in 
the free States ; what have we done to provoke the wrath of 
the South and bring on the terrible war which has burst 
upon us, like thunder from a clear sky ? But a few months 
since, we were a united and happy people. All the great in- 
terests of the country were in a high state of prosperity, and 
the prospect of a long bright future in reserve for us was per- 
haps never more promising. Now we are a di\dded people, 
the union is rent asunder ; fourteen of the States have 
rushed away from the constitution, and having formed them- 
selves into a confederacy, are carrying on a war against the 
remaining States, and threatening the overthrow of our gov- 
ernment. Terrible guilt attaches to one party or the other, 
engaged in this conflict. To which docs it belong, to the 



8 

North, or the South; to the slave States or the free. I 
have long and earnestly sought to know the truth on this sub- 
ject ; to discover what articles of indictment the South could 
bring against us to justify the course she has seen fit to adopt 
in this unnatural and terrible conflict. And I must confess 
that after the most careful inquiry, I have been unable to 
discover any one cause for the war that can for a moment 
stand the test of truth or sound reason ; and I am constrained 
still to ask, what have we done ? We have violated no prin- 
ciple of the constitution ; we have resisted no law of Congress ; 
we have invaded none of the rights of the South ; we have 
despoiled none of her citizens of their property ; we have done 
violence to none of them while visiting at the North or resid- 
ing among us on business ; we have driven none of them from 
our midst as exiles ; we have tarred and feathered none of 
them, and we have seized and put to death none of them in 
violation of all forms of law, and with no charge of crime, but 
that of thinking and speaking as free men and christians. 
We stand clear of each and of all these offenses ; and I know 
not that they have been alleged against us by any southern 
man of competent knowledge and candor to judge in the case. 
But all these offenses, these outrages, it is well known, have 
been repeatedly committed against us by and at the South, 
and under circumstances of peculiar and irritating aggrava- 
tion. And yet we have peaceably and patiently borne all ; 
have borne insults and provocations, and wrongs inflicted 
upon our worthy citizens, which, if inflicted by any foreign 
power, would have been deemed a just cause of war. What 
then have we done ? Have we passed personal liberty bills ? 
That is true. But they were not designed to nullify or vio- 
late any law of Congress, or to prevent the reclamation of any 
slave who could be legally proved to have escaped from his 
master ; and I have seen it stated on good authority, that no 



9 

master ever did fail of regaining his fugitive slave through the 
operation of these terrible liberty bills of which so much has 
been said. These bills were enacted, some of them many- 
years ago, as a safe-guard to our own colored people, to pre- 
vent their being kidnapped, and carried off to be sold in a 
southern market ; and they have all, I believe, so far as 
they have any bearing on the matter in controversy, been re 
pealed. 

Is it alleged that we have agitated the subject of slavery ; 
have insisted on the right of discussing it from the pulpit and 
the press, and of exposing its wrongs and its villainies ? That 
is true ; but is the insisting on this right a just cause for trea- 
son and war ? or is it a right to be abandoned by free men at 
the dictation of the slave power ? Is it alleged, again, that 
we have refused to allow to slavery a right to extend itself 
over all and every part of our free territory, and have insisted 
that it should be confined, henceforth, within its own legal 
and constitutional boundaries ? That, also, is true. But 
what wrong is done to the South by this ? We claim no right 
over slavery in the States where it now exists by local or State 
laws, and we have no wish to invade the laws or resist the 
authority which are spread over it on its own soil. But when 
the claim is set up that it has a right to travel side by side 
with freedom, and to establish itself wherever free territory is 
to be found in our whole domain, we resist the claim as un- 
just and wicked ; we say it has no foundation in the constitu- 
tion, nor in the known sentiments of the framers of that in- 
strument, nor in the law of nature, and certainly not in the 
law of God and the principles of His gospel. Standing on 
this ground, we say of slavery, lifting up its imperious voice 
and demanding more territory and a wider domain over which 
to spread its misery and its crimes, — hitherto thou mayest 
come, but no further ; and here thy proud waves shall be 
stayed. And is not this right ? 
2 



10 

Is it alleged, again, that we have attempted to wield the 
powers of the Federal government to the prejudice of the 
South ? But wherein have we done this ? The powers of 
the government have been essentially in the hands of the 
South for the last thirty years, and scarcely a demand has she 
made since the beginning of our government, relating to her 
peculiar institution, which has not been conceded by the 
North.* At the formation of the constitution, she insisted 
that the slave-trade should be continued twenty years, and it 
was allowed ; she insisted that three-fifths of her slaves should 
be added to her free population as represented in Congress, and 
that protection, to a certain extent, should be extended over 
this species of live stock, and all this was conceded to her. 
In 1793, she wanted a fugitive slave law passed, and Congress 
passed such a law. In 1820, she wanted the Missouri Com- 
promise, and it was given her. In 1854, she wanted the Mis- 
souri Compromise repealed, and it was done. She next 
asked for a judicial decision of the territorial question in her 
favor, and the Supreme Court of the United States, in contra- 
vention of the whole current of our legislation, so decided. 
State after State, I know not how many, have been brought into 
the Union with the mark and the curse of slavery upon them, 
to satisfy her demands ; and I find it stated, on competent au- 
thority, that in various ways, to promote the interests of the 
very States now leading this rebellion, the people of the 
United States, acting through Congress, have paid over 
$617,000,000.1 Indeed, I do not recollect more than one 
instance, that of Kansas, in which the South has failed to ob- 
tain the concessions from government in favor of slavery 
which she asked for. And for all these concessions we now 
have the miserable return of an organized rebellion and a 

* See Everett's Oration, p. 38. 

t Senator Latham's speech, July 20, 1861- 



11 

wicked attempt to Jircak up the government. Nothing, in 
fact, could satisfy the South. Her demands became more 
and more imperious and unreasonable, till it was found 
that they must be resisted or the whole country come 
under the rule of an unprincipled slave oligarchy. The 
question then returns, — What have we done ? Nothing, 
surely, to provoke this horrible fratricidal war, nor to hasten 
it on. We conceded and compromised ; we bore and fore- 
bore till tlie country was pushed to the very brink of ruin. 
And it is my full belief, that had the government remained 
in the hands of the South another four years, the day of re- 
demption would have been passed and our subjection to the 
slave power would have been inevitable. The people saw this 
— the free people of the North and West, and roused by a 
sense of danger, they united and in a perfectly constitutional 
way elected a president of their own principles, and of course 
to the disapprobation and dislike of the South. This tells 
the whole story. The free North have chosen a man to ad- 
minister the government for the next four years, in the spirit 
and on the principles on which it was founded by our fathers. 
This is the whole head and front of our offending. Hence 
the war. No act of injustice, oppression or wrong on our 
part can be pleaded by the South in justification of her seces- 
sion and rebellion. Long before Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated, 
or a single act had been done by him or the incoming admin- 
istration, the whole plan of secession was matured and the 
fatal blow ready to be struck ; the signal was given ; war was 
commenced ; State after State rushed out of the Union and 
joined in a conspiracy, a rebellion against constitutional au- 
thority. The programme, formed long before, was carried out 
in mad haste ; a new government was formed ; forts, arsenals, 
navy yards, ships, mints, and all kinds of United States prop- 
erty lying within the seceding States were seized and used to 



12 

strengthen and carry on the rebellion, till at length the na- 
tion's flag was smitten down and trailed in the dust, and the 
cry went up throughout the South, — On to Washington, take 
possession of the capital and the victory is ours. Up to this 
point our government waited patiently, — waited too long, as 
we all now feel, but waited in hope that the madness which 
ruled the hour would subside, and reason once more re- 
sume its sway. But when all hope of pacification by for- 
bearance and patient waiting passed away, and it was seen 
that rebellion must be put down by the strong arm of power, 
or destroy the country, there was witnessed the uprising of a 
mighty people, rushing to arms at the call of the President, 
gathering around our capital and along the borders of the 
rebel states, ready to shed, their blood and sacrifice their all to 
defend their country and maintain its government and its 
laws. 

So the case stands to day. An army of from two hundred 
and fifty to three 'hundred thousand men, stationed in differ- 
ent sections of the country, ready to be set in battle array 
against, perhaps an equal number from the seceding States ; 
the scene is grand ; it is awful ; the end is not yet ; the future 
is veiled from our sight ; we must wait the issue, trusting in 
that God who rules in righteousness over all. 

II. We pass to our second question. What have we to 
do ? What does duty, right, demand of us, in the circumstan- 
ces in which our country, and we as individuals, are placed ? 
And, — 

1. We must have a right understanding, of the nature, 
cause and object of the conflict now going on in the country. 
As to its nature, it is not properly speaking, a war. War is 
a struggle between two sovereign nations appealing to arms 
for the settlement of their difficulties. But the South is not 
a sovereign nation, not acknowledged to be such by a single 



13 

government on earth. They are a conspiracy ; a treasonable 
banding together of a portion of the one nation of the United 
States to break up the Union, and destroy the government. 
The whole plan, in its inception, development and progress, is 
properly characterized as a rebellion, a wicked insurrection 
against constitutional authority ; and the eflfort now being 
made by loyal men to put it down, by force of arms, is not, I 
repeat, in any proper sense, war, any more than it is war 
when a city police puts forth its power to quell a riot or a 
mob, or to defend innocent citizens against the assaults of 
thieves and robbers. The most scrupulous advocate of peace 
might go into this contest without violating one of his peace 
principles, just as he might defend himself or his family 
against a house breaker or a murderer. It is not war when 
criminals are seized and punished, or when pirates aud trait- 
ors are put down and brought to justice by an armed force. 
It is simply an act of self defense, a vindication of right by 
the punishment of crime. So the contest that is now going 
on in this country, it is simply a struggle for self defense ; a 
putting forth of the armed power of the country to defend its 
nationality, to maintain its existence indeed, against rebels 
combined for its overthrow. 

As to the right of secession as claimed by the South, it has 
not the shadow of a reason for its support. Secession ! Seces- 
sion from the Republic ; secession from the one constitution, 
binding the Republic together as one nation, one people, and 
one for all time. Secession is an absurdity wholly opposed 
to the spirit and form of our government, contrary to the 
known sentiments of the fathers of the republic, the great- 
statesmen who framed the constitution and enacted the fun- 
damental laws of the nation, and it seems never to have been 
thought of as a possibility, till it was hatched in the brain of 
Mr. Calhoun, of South Carolina, and since taken up and prop- 
agated by uneasy, ambitious, reckless spirits at the South. 



14 

With regard to the cause of this gigantic rebeUioii, I have 
before -said, that its immediate cause was the election of Mr. 
Lincohi to the presidency. The whole spirit and policy of the 
South, in entering on the late presidential election, meant 
this, — " If we can succeed in electing our candidate, as we 
have in fifteen that have preceded it, well and good ; but if we 
fail, we intend to prostrate the government and break up the 
Union ; peaceably if we can, otherwise at the point of the 
sword."* Theyfailed, and immediately they set themselves to 
carry out their predetermined purpose. They rushed like 
madmen for the destruction of the Union, just because they 
were defeated in the election and were made to feel that the 
power of the government, which they had wielded for so long 
a period, essentially for sixty years, had passed out of their 
hands, not probably to return again. This was more than 
southern chivalry could bear. So the appeal was made to arms, 
and we have been constrained to meet them on that ground. 

And what is the object we aim at in the position we have 
taken ? It is not conquest ; it is not subjugation ; it is not to 
spread carnage and bloodshed over the States in revolt ; but 
only to stay the hand of violence, they have raised against 
us ; to bring them back to their allegiance and maintain the 
government of the country, which they have wickedly con- 
spired to overthrow, and thus preserve the constitution and 
the laws, which we and they have alike sworn to support. 

Is it said that the object of the war is to destroy slavery, 
by setting free the four millions of human beings now held in 
bondage at the South ? I deny that this was or is the object 
of the war ; though I can not but pray earnestly, as I confident- 
ly hope, that in the good providence of God, the overthrow of 
slavery will be the consequence, the ultimate result of the 

* Everett's N. York Oration, July 4, 1861. 



15 

conflict. But this was not, nor is it now, its avowed or its 
real object. That is to maintain our government ; to defend 
our Republican institutions ; to put down rebellion and re- 
store the country, the whole country, to the state of peace, pros- 
perity and strength which it has so long enjoyed, to the wonder 
and admiration of the nations. This is the sole object for which 
we send forth our armies, pour out our treasures and sacrifice 
our sons and our brethren on the bloody field. And this object 
is worth all that it will or can cost us. The war in which we 
are engaged is not for ourselves alone, or our posterity ; but 
for the world and for all time. The question of the possibili- 
ty of maintaining free institutions is now on trial before the 
nations ; the problem of free government is now to be settled ; 
and if we fail, if the grand experiment inaugurated by our 
fathers and so long and so successfully carried forward in our 
hands, shall now fail, and our country sink into a state of 
anarchy, or be divided into separate sovereign States, contigu- 
ous, jealous, ever exposed to make war on each other, — I for 
one should feel that the sun of freedom had gone back on the 
dial of time for generations a,nd for centuries, and might never 
rise again. It was said by a great French statesman, M. Fould, 
to an American citizen not long ago, after the rebellion broke 
out, — "Your Republic is dead. And it is probably the last 
the world will ever see. You will have a reign of terrorism, 
and after that two or three monarchies." All this is likely to 
be verified if this revolution succeed. 

This then is one thing we have to do, — to understand well 
the nature, the cause and the object of the contest in which 
we are engaged and the momentous interests involved in the 
issue. 

2. Another thing we have to do is to strive for a union of 
all parties. This is not a time to carry out our personal pref- 



16 

# 

erences, or to stick to and maintain our party attachments. 
It is a time which calls for the union of all true men in the 
one great issue which is now pending before the country. 
Let there be none to contend for old party lines, and none to 
attempt to form new parties, and, least of all, to cry peace, 
compromise, adjustment, while the roar of cannon is in our 
ears, or the sword at our breasts. Lord Nelson caused to be 
signaled from the topmast of his ship, just as he was going 
into the battle of Trafalgar, these memorable words, — " Eng- 
land expects every man to do his duty." A like signal I seem 
to see inscribed on our country's flag, in this time of her peril, 
America expects every citizen to do his duty. It has been 
well said, by a true statesman, — ' We may differ as to many 
things in the past ; we may differ as to many things in the 
future ; but we must now act for the present. And for the 
present there is but one course for us all to pursue. Our mis- 
guided brethren at the South have left us no alternative but 
to fight. Our capital must be defended ; our flag must be 
sustained. The authority of the government must be vindi- 
cated. The great experiment must be fully and fairly tried 
of restoring the Union upon its old constitutional basis.' And 
whatever is necessary for the accomplishment of these ends 
must be promptly and thoroughly done. Let there be, then, 
no hanging back ; no drawing off into little squads or parties ; 
no secret counsels and plots devised in conclave to embarrass 
our government or lead any to withhold from it their hearty 
co-operation and support. 

In the last speech made by Mr. Douglas to his party at 
Chicago, but a short time before his death, he uttered these 
memorable words : " Whoever is not prepared to sacrifice 
party organizations and platforms on the altar of his country, 
does not deserve the support of honest people. We must 
cease discussing party issues, make no allusion to old party 



17 

tests, have no criminations or recriminations, indulge in no 
taunts one against another as to what has been the cause of 
these troubles." This is sound advice and should be followed 
by all, of every political party. 

After what has now been said, it is scarcely necessary to 
add, that another thing we have to do is, to stand by the con- 
stitution and maintain our government and our nationality at 
all hazards. That sacred instrument, the bond of our Union 
and the basis of our prosperity and happiness, cost our fathers 
too much blood and treasure to be surrendered, without a 
struggle, to the hand of violence now raised to destroy it. 
And our government, based on the constitution, and our na- 
tionality, growing out of it, — they must be defended what- 
ever it may cost. Our very life as a nation depends on this. 
It is no time to talk of peace, of concession, compromise, re- 
adjustment, while rebellion maintains its posture of defiance 
and insists upon having what it demands, or fighting us unto 
the death. Peace is a charming word ; I love the very sound 
of it ; and the blessings it carries in its bosom are inestimable. 
But peace sought and obtained by cowing down to the South 
and conceding to her demands would be infinite dishonor ; it 
could result, at the best, only in a temporary suspension of 
hostilities, shortly to break out again in a spirit of violence 
and hate greater than ever. No ; let the question be settled 
now, and settled for all time, whether our constitution and 
government shall stand and we remain a free nation, or 
whether we shall sink into anarchy and confusion, to be ad- 
justed in the end by the reign of despotism, or some other 
reign of oppression and wrong, like that which enters into the 
new Confederacy of the South, which, according to the dec- 
laration of its Vice-President, Mr. Stephens, rests on slavery 
as its corner stone, on the great truth, as he calls it, that the 
inferior is to be held in subordination to the superior race. 



18 

Shall we succumb to a power like this, — a power that bases 
itself on slavery as its chief foundation, and whose great aim 
is to perpetuate and extend the system as widely as possible ? 
No, never, never. Let us, then, one and all, without distinc- 
tion of party, gather around the citadel of our constitution 
and our free forms of government, and resolve that, come 
weal or woe, we will in life and in death, now and forever, 
stand up and defend them ivith our lives, our fortunes, and 
our sacred honor. 

Another thing we have to do, and that is freely and man- 
fully to meet and bear the burdens that may come upon us 
in carrying this conflict through to a triumphant issue. The 
cost ivill be, it has already been great, but not too great for 
the object to be attained. It cost our fathers seven years of 
war to achieve our independence and establish the govern- 
ment which we are now called to defend ; and the burdens 
which they cheerfully and magnanimously bore in that long 
and bloody conflict were greater, far, far greater, compared 
with their number and their ability, than can be expected to 
come upon us, even should the present war last twice seven 
years. The men and the resources of the free States are 
abundant to meet every exigency that can reasonably be ex- 
pected to arise. Our late war with Mexico cost us 217,175,- 
675 dollars ; but this sum, vast as it appears, was paid with 
no perceptible inconvenience or pressure upon the people at 
large. So it will be with the present war. It will for a time 
embarrass business and depress commerce and trade; and 
the usual sources of income enjoyed by many will be dimin- 
ished or perhaps entirely cut off. What then ? Why, there 
will be a necessity for curtailment of personal and family 
expenses and the practice of self-denial and greater economy 
and industry, it may be; and something of this kind, far 
from injuring, might prove a great blessing to majiy in our 



19 

land. But come what may, in this or any other form, there 
should be no shrinking from the expenses necessary to carry 
on the war ; no grumbling on account of taxes, or the accu- 
mulation of national debt. Where all is at stake, as in the 
present case, we may well spare a part of what we have for 
the sake of saving the rest. It is not we alone who are to 
suffer if we fail ; but our children and our children's chil- 
dren to the latest posterity, and the cause of liberty and free 
government throughout the world. And then, when peace 
is restored on right and honorable principles, prosperity will 
quickly return and new enterprise and thrift spring up on 
every side, and all departments of business will be waked 
into new life and be crowned with new success. 

Yet another thing we have to do, more important than 
any or than all that I have yet mentioned, and that is, we 
have to recognize our relations to God as the great Ruler of 
the world ; to feel our dependence on him for success in this 
necessary, but terrible conflict ; and humbly confessing our 
sins and the sins of the nation against him, our rightful Lord 
and Sovereign, to implore the interposition of his gracious 
power in our behalf, that right may prevail and peace and 
order and happiness be speedily restored to our divided, war- 
ring and bleeding country. 

On the duty here indicated, all-important as it is, I have 
no time to enlarge. There can be no doubt that the fearful 
judgment that has come upon us as a nation is for our sins. 
They have risen up to heaven and have long cried for the 
displeasure of the Most High to be poured down upon us. 
I need not attempt to particularize. Our great sin as a na- 
tion has been forgetfulness of God, disregard of his authority, 
contempt of his laws, pride, boasting of our strength and 5ur 
greatness, and setting up for independence of him as the 
great Ruler and Judge of the world. Ungodliness, casting 



20 

off the fear of Jehovah, ignoring his supremacy, and practi- 
cally setting aside his right to reign over us, — these are sins 
that lie "vnth fearful weight upon us as a people, and they are 
properly the source of the terrible crimes, and frauds, and 
vices and oppressions, and villanies and wrongs which have, 
especially of late years, so rapidly increased and spread in all 
parts of the land. "When I think of these things and remem- 
ber that God is just, I have great misgiving as to the scenes 
that are opening upon us. Tlie Lord has a controversy with 
us. His voice crieth in the land, and it becomes us to hear 
the rod and him who hath appointed it. There is a God. 
that our nation knew it, — there is a God of holiness, jus- 
tice and truth, who ruleth over the world, and the nation and 
the people that will not obey him he will utterly destroy. 
Let us not rely too confidently on our superior numbers, nor 
on our vast resources of money and means, and our indomi- 
table energy and prowess. AH these will avail us Httle if the 
Lord be risen against us or has come forth for the punish- 
ment of our sins. He reigns in righteousness over nations 
as over men, and if they will not see his hand nor hear his 
voice when he comes forth kindly to warn and admonish 
them, he will speak in louder tones and stretch forth a more 
fearful arm for their punishment, and it may be for their de- 
struction. The signs of the times are dark and ominous. 
The country is in a perilous condition. She is like a ship 
in a stormy sea, enveloped in dense fog, with rocks and shoals 
around her, and no pilot on board who knows the way of 
escape or how to bring her safely into port. She may escape 
unharmed, or she may be broken in pieces and become a 
wreck, amid the storms and waves that are fiercely beating 
ar#und her. Man sees not the issue. Man has no wisdom 
and no power adequate to the exigencies of a time like this. 
God only can still the raging of the sea in its angry upheav- 



m 



21 

ings and bring the deliverance we need, and to him it be- 
comes us all to lift up our voice of prayer, and cry in true 
sincerity and earnestness of spirit,— spare thy people, 
Lord, and give not thy heritage to reproach. 

Having thus spoken of what we have done, and of what 
we have to do, I pass next to speak of what we have to hope. 
And here, looking at the horoscope of time, and scanning, 
as best I can, the future, hope, I am happy to say, hope is 
very greatly in the ascendant. True, we know little of what 
is before us. The book of providence is to us a sealed book, 
and time is its only interpreter. Still there are signs of the 
times which we do well to consider, and certain great fixed 
principles in the divine government by the aid of which we 
may study the scene now passing in our country, and from 
them we can not fail, I think, to gather hope, bright hope, 
for our country's future. 

Let me just dot a few particulars which have much weight 
in my own mind. And, 

1. We have much to hope from the goodness of the cause 
in which we are engaged. That is not for aggression, for 
conquest, for blood ; but for the maintenance of our free 
government, the best that ever the world saw ; for the de- 
fense of liberty and righteous law and the suppression of 
treason and rebeUion. If ever there was a good cause, a 
riffhteous cause, summoning to its support the best energies 
of men, that is one which has called for the uprising of a 
mighty people in our land, and sent them forth by hundreds 
of thousands to rally imder our country's banner and defend 
it against the wicked assaults of those who have banded 
tof^ether to smite it to the ground. The conflict, as I have 
before said, is not one of our seeking, nor one of our pro- 
vokino- : it has been forced upon us by the bad counsels and 
wicked measures of a set of unprincipled, ambitious politi- 



22 

cians at the South, misguiding and deceiving the people, and 
plunging them into a needless, ruinous war. We stand on 
the defensive. We mean to repel their attacks ; to put down 
the wicked rebellion they have inaugurated, and restore 
peace and harmony to the country, as soon as it can be done 
on right principles, and with a due regard to the safety and 
honor of our government and the prosperity of our free 
institutions. This, then, is a righteous cause, and as God 
favors the right, we may gather hope from this, that he will 
bear us through the contest and crown our arms with vic- 
tory. 

2. We have much to hope from the fact that the civilized 
world is on our side. What nation on earth has commended 
the rebellion of the South, or what portion of the christian 
world has expressed the least sympathy with her in the war 
she is waging? This war, on her part, is essentially a pro- 
slavery war. It was undertaken and is carried on for the 
purpose of extending the domain and perpetuating the 
institution of slavery. Now slavery is a doomed institution. 
The whole christian and civilized world are against it ; and, 
standing on the ground we have taken in this war, we also 
are against it, and are resolved that it shall not go beyond 
its present prescribed limits ; and maintaining this ground, 
we are sure of the sympathies and good wishes of all the 
true friends of freedom and religion throughout the world. 
And if the time should come, when we shall need their aid 
to bring this conflict to a successful close, that aid, we may 
rest assured, will not be withheld, but will be forthcoming at 
our asking. 

3. We have much to hope from the remarkable union of 
the North in sustaining the cause which has forced us on to 
the battle-field. Was there ever such a sight under heaven 
as was witnessed when the booming of the cannon tliat were 



23 

fired on Sumpter rolled over the land; the uprising of 
twenty millions of freemen, ready to repel the assault, and 
crush the rebellion thus begun ? It was a grand, a sublime 
sight, indicating, it has seemed to me, an impulse, an inspira- 
tion from above, waking up the people to a sense of their 
danger and of their rights, and uniting them in one firm 
determination to defend them. Parties there were before, 
and differences of opinion as to matters of policy and the 
causes of the contest. But the blow struck by the South in 
the hour of her madness, surprisingly cast these differences 
into the background, and united all parties with scarcely an 
exception worthy to be named, into one party, the party for 
the Union and the government. So essentially it stands 
to-day throughout the North. The croaking and the whin- 
ing we hear on this side and that, indicate clearly whence 
they come, and really the number who make these under- 
ground, unpleasant sounds, would seem to be so small as 
scarcely to be worth naming in the face of the one great 
united party who are resolved to stand by the Constitution 
and defend the country in this time of its peril. This augurs 
well, and gives us good ground to hope for the future. 

4. We have much to hope from the Union sentiment 
which exists at the South. It has been said by one who has 
the best means of knowing — Senator Holt, of Kentucky — 
that he believed the Union men of the South to be in the 
majority in every seceded State, except perhaps South Caro- 
lina. If this is the truth, or any thing near the truth, as 
many signs prove that it is, then have we much to hope 
from the very quarter whence our trouble comes. At pres- 
ent, the Union sentiment of the South finds itself in the 
midst of a reign of terror, and is held in silence, as it were, 
by a military despotism. But give it an opportunity to 
speak and make itself felt, with assurance of protection and 



24 

aid from our national government, and treason, it is believed, 
would cower away out of sight, rebellion would throw down 
its arms, and a power would rise up to restore peace and 
order throughout the seceding States ; would place the gov- 
ernment of those States in loyal hands, and bring them 
back, happy to be restored to their place in the Union. 

5. We have much to hope from the great moral forces 
T!&J^h are on our side. The plan of God is always progres- 
sive. The wheels of his providence always move forward, 
and never backward. "We live in the nineteenth century of 
the Christian era, and the forces to which I refer have, dur- 
ing that long period, been gradually but surely developing 
themselves, gaining strength and extending their influence 
in the world. Do you ask what these forces are ? They are 
science, literature, religion, and civilization taken in its 
broadest christian sense. Now to what do these forces tend ? 
On what great interests do they most directly bear ? Is 
there one of them that acts in favor of the position tak^n 
by the South ; that of establishing a confederacy and build- 
ing up an aristocratical government based on slavery as its 
corner-stone, and for the purpose of extending and perpetu- 
ating the domain of slavery ? Are the science, the litera- 
ture, the religion, the civilization of our day in favor of a 
plan like this ? Are they not rather directly opposed to it, 
branding slavery as a relic of barbarism and uttterly incon- 
sistent with free institutions and all true progress of society ? 
This appears to me just as certain as any problem in mathe- 
matics, and a government based on slavery, or in any way 
dependent upon it, or aiming to extend and perpetuate it 
as a leading object of its policy, has an element of rotten- 
ness in its very heart, and must sooner or later fall into 
decay and ruin. 

But look at the forces I have referred to, in their bearing 



25 

on the cause we are engaged to support ; and how plain is it 
that their combined influence is in favor of that cause ; sci- 
ence in favor of it, literature in favor of it, religion in favor 
of it, all true civilization in favor of it! That cause, what is 
it? It is the cause of freedom, freedom of speech, freedom 
of the press, freedom of the elective franchise, the diffusion 
of general education, the support of free institutions and of 
true republican government. This is the cause, so compre- 
hensive and so various, which the South, by its rebellion, is 
bringing into peril, and we of the North have risen up to 
defend. And shall we fail in what we have undertaken ? Is 
there not hope, strong hope of success ; seeing all the great 
forces now at work in advancing society and hastening on 
the great plan of God to its final consummation, are throw- 
ing their combined influence in our favor, and working for 
our victory ? That victory may not be to-day nor to-mor- 
row ; it may even be long delayed, nor come without much 
cost of blood and treasure in contending with our maddened 
foe ; but come it will, as sure as truth and righteousness 
and knowledge and civilization and freedom shall prevail 
over ignorance, barbarism, tyranny and crime. We can 
wait for the issue, if need be, wait in patience, good courage 
and hope, seeing we are moving on in the line of causes 
fixed as the throne of God, and sure of triumph as his own 
eternal kingdom of truth and righteousness. 

6. We have much to hope from our past history. God 
has often appeared for us in times past, and delivered us 
from great and threatening evils. And we may be sure that 
he did not preserve this land of ours till so late a period in 
the world's history, and then plant here the tree of liberty, 
of knowledge and religion, finally to be overrun with des- 
potism, with slavery, with ignorance and barbarism. No; 
the tree he planted here, he will defend ; the institutions 
4 



26 

established here by our pious forefathers under his fostering 
care, will be preserved ; and the constitution and govern- 
ment which were secured for us by the great and good men 
who fought the battles of the revolution, and which have 
blessed this land, as no other land ever was blessed, for 
more than three-fourths of a century, will continue, we may 
confidently hope, to bless those who are to live after us, for 
long generations to come. 

7. We may hope that the conflict in which we are engaged 
will not be long. This seems to be the opinion of those who 
have the best means to judge. And we may better adopt it 
than the opposite. It can not be, that so insane a war and 
for so insane an object shall last year after year, spreading its 
horrors and its carnage over this fair land. The madness of 
the hour will, I trust, ere long spend itself, and wiser counsels 
prevail. But whether the contest be long or short, let it be 
fought through, till an honorable peace can be had, based on 
principles of right, not soon to be shaken again. Let there be 
no peace by separation ; that is impossible without the utter 
overthrow of our government and plunging the whole country 
into a state of anarchy, perpetual strife and war. And let 
there be no peace by compromise, by concession, by yielding 
to the unreasonable demands of the South ; but peace when 
they have laid down their arms ; peace on and under the con- 
stitution, peace on the great and only sure principles of peace, 
righteousness, truth and equal protection to the persons and 
rights of all. Then, out of the conflict, and as a consequence 
of it, we may hope that our institutions and government will 
come forth stronger, healthier, better and more established 
than ever. This I anticipate will be one result of the war. 
We shall have a stronger and more efftcient government, and 
administered more according to the principles of justice, 
equity and right. 



2T 

8. Finally, we may hope, as another result of this war, that 
slavery will receive its death blow, and at no distant day, dis- 
appear from our land. How this is to be done, I do not pre- 
tend to know. The overthrow of slavery was not, as I have 
before said, the original object of the war ; nor is it now its 
proposed or avowed object. Nor should I desire to have this 
object held forth now as a thing directly to be aimed at. 
This it seems to me would be unwise and impolitic in the 
present state of the controversy, would create division among 
those who are now united in defending the Union, and tend 
to complicate the whole subject of emancipation in new and 
insuperable difficulties. Still I have a strong conviction, and 
certainly a most earnest hope, that emancipation will come as a 
consequence of this war. I do not exactly know how ; God has 
the whole matter in his hands, and he, I think I see plainly, is 
in his wise and good providence, setting various causes in 
motion which will in the end, we may be sure, and at no dis- 
tant day, root out slavery from our land, break every yoke and 
let every one held in bondage go free. I fully believe with 
Count de Gasparin, an eminent French author and statesman, 
who has recently published a most interesting volume on the 
present state of our country, — I fully believe with him, that 
the abolition of slavery will be one principal conquest of the 
nineteenth century. So may it be. And I will just add that 
the course pursued by the South, within the last few months, 
in exciting and carrying on this miserable rebellion, has done 
more to hasten the end of slavery, her nursling and her pride, 
than has been done by all the agitation and denunciatory 
counsels of ultra abolitionists for many years. 

I here close what I have to say, though much more 
might be said, as to what we have to hope, and hasten to add 
a few words in regard to what we have to fear. After what 



28 

has been said, you will readily infer, that I see no serious 
cause for apprehension. True, we see not the future, and 
know not what course affairs may take in our country. The 
phrase, chances of war, is full of meaning. The race is not 
always to the swift nor the battle to the strong. It sometimes 
happens in national conflicts, that the best cause suffers defeat 
and the strongest arm fails of victory. It may be so for a 
time with us. But if true to ourselves, there can be no rea- 
sonable ground of doubt that we shall come out of this war 
triumphant and our country be saved from dismemberment, 
established on a firmer foundation than ever. 

Many have had fears lest Great Britain or France, espe- 
cially Great Britain, might interfere to aid the South by 
weakening the blockade and otherwise affording her support. 
But whatever causes there may have been for apprehensions 
of this kind, they seem very much to have passed away. 
England will not enter into this quarrel; centainly not at 
present. It may be admitted that the nobility, the aristoc- 
racy of the kingdom, entertain no cordial love for us, or our 
form of government. They would willingly, at least many 
of their ruling ones, see our power broken, our growth 
checked, and our Union dashed on the rocks. The South 
have counted much on this, and have hoped long before this 
to be recognized as an established government, and to be re- 
ceived into relations of amity, and of trade and commerce. 
But hitherto she has been disappointed; she has gotten no 
countenance in her rebellion, and no encouragement from 
either France or England. And so it will be, we may hope, 
in the future. Whatever may be said of a portion of the 
English community, the great mass of the people, there can 
be no doubt, are true in their feelings of friendship towards 
us, and the motives must be very much stronger than they 
now are, before the rulers of the people will run so great a 



29 

risk as that of provoking a war with us by interfering to 
afford aid and comfort to the South in its present posture of 
rebellion. 

Our greatest cause of fear is, probably, the danger of be- 
coming divided among ourselves. At present we are to a 
great extent united. The feeling is very general, and the 
determination is very firm, that the government must be 
maintained, and the rebellion must be put down at all haz- 
ards. This is as it should be, and God grant that both the 
feeling and the determination may continue in unabated 
strength and constant increase, till the consummation so 
devoutly to be desired, be fully attained. But should the 
war be prolonged and the taxes become heavy, and disasters 
multiply, as possibly they may, it would not be strange if the 
cry peace, peace, which we now occasionally hear, whisper- 
ing from hidden conclaves and secret retreats, should wax 
louder and become more bold and urgent, till at length a 
party should rise up sufficiently strong to make itself felt; 
and then the demand would be, let us have peace, peace at 
any rate, even by submission to the South, acceding to her 
demands, and giving her the sceptre, if need be, to rule over 
us. This is our danger. Here lies our principal ground of 
fear. And yet I do not anticipate any great trouble from 
this quarter. I can not believe that the number will ever 
become large or formidable of such as would be willing to 
ask peace from the South while in armed rebellion against 
our government, or on conditions that would prostrate our 
free institutions and aid her in building up an empire whose 
foundations rest on slavery, as Vice President Stephens says, 
as its chief corner stone. I would commend to such, if any 
such are present, and to all others like them, throughout the 
land, could my voice reach them, the words of Mr. Douglas 
in his last speech, before referred to, — "Whoever is not pre- 



30 

pared to sacrifice party organizations and platforms on the 
altar of his country, does not deserve the support of honest 
people." 

I conclude with the remark that the greatest fear of all is, 
that we shall not, as a people, feel, in any measure as we 
ought, our dependence on God ; shall not truly repent of our 
sins against him, nor seek his favor with that sincere humili- 
ty and earnestness in prayer which are necessary to obtain 
his interposition in our behalf to deliver us from the evils 
we already feel, and avert from us the still greater which 
threaten to come upon us. This points us to the duty to 
which we are specially called to-day. And surely there is 
just cause for it. We are a sinful people ; a people laden 
with iniquity ; guilty before God, I am ready to think, beyond 
any other people on earth, and that because we have sinned 
against greater light and have abused greater privileges. On 
the score of justice we have nothing to hope, but every thing 
to fear from the almighty and righteous Ruler of the world. 
And whether the present is not the beginning of judgments 
which shall consume the land, until the people shall know 
and acknowledge that there is a God who ruleth in the earth, 
is a question which only he can determine. Our duty is 
plain. It is to search and try our ways ; to humble ourselves 
before God for our individual personal sins, and the sins of 
our nation; penitently to implore his mercy to pardon, and 
his grace to interpose and save us. God alone is able to 
bring the deliverance we need in this time of our country's 
peril. His favor is absolutely essential to carry us through 
the terrible conflict which is now raging in our land, and 
restore peace and harmony to our distracted and suffering 
nation. 

To him, then, let us go with all humility and godly sor- 
row, and offer to him such fervent, believing supplication, 



31 

both for ourselves and our dear country, as will come up 
with acceptance before the throne of the great Ruler and 
Judge of the world, and engage him to remember us and his 
ancient mercy to our fathers, and turn again and save us. 
It is in this way only that we can perform aright the duties 
of this occasion, or be prepared to meet, in any proper man- 
ner, the unfoldings of that dark, mysterious drama that is 
now being acted in our country. 



LiBRftRY OF CONGRESS 

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